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Description/Abstract

Aims: We hypothesised that intrauterine environmental factorssuch as undernutrition may have an impact on cardiac developmentin prenatal life, leading to cardiac hypertrophy. In this study, weexamined the effects of maternal dietary protein restriction (PR)during pregnancy on fetal heart development in the mouse.Study design and Subjects: CD1 mice were placed on controlC (18% casein) or protein restricted PR (9% casein) diet duringpregnancy. Fetal hearts were collected on day 12 of gestation andthe left ventricles (LV) of adult offspring at 6 months.

Conclusion: These results indicate that protein restriction duringpregnancy leads to a smaller fetal heart (MRI scan), perhaps dueto its effect on cell allocation and division. Lack of difference inthe expression of p53 and E2f1, genes involved in cell inhibitionand apoptosis and cell proliferation, respectively in either groupsuggest that changes in fetal heart size are due to the reductionof cardiomyocyte growth (supported by lower cyclin g1 expressionpreviously described) in the PR group.